This weeks Editorial - Mayor's vote came at crucial time

The long and winding (and draining) saga of the EPMC Wellness Training Center has finally come to an end.

And, appropriately, it came on a controversial vote decided by a person who rarely votes - the mayor.

The Estes Park Town Board Trustees have been divided on many facets of the wellness center issue over the years. They still were on Tuesday night during a special review of the project.

When it finally came time to vote on an amended application that would allow a wellness program presence in the accommodations building under construction on Lot 4 of the Stanley Historic District, the board first turned down a motion to send the special review back to the Estes Valley Planning Commission. The vote was 4-3 with Mayor Bill Pinkham casting the deciding vote.

Then came a motion to approve the special review with the condition that a third flood rooftop deck and adjoining stairway bumpouts be removed from the plans in order to keep the building at the maximum 30-foot height as required by code.

That motion died for a lack of a second.

The board then entertained a motion to approve the special review with conditions of approval outlined by town staff.

That motion deadlocked, too, with trustees Bob Holcomb, John Ericson, and Ward Nelson voting in favor of approval. Trustees Ron Norris and John Phipps, and Mayor Pro-Tem Wendy Koenig, voted against the motion.

That left the fate of the wellness center in the hands of the mayor, who only votes to break ties. He hesitated for just a moment and then voted to approve the special review.

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It was a moment that will likely define this community for many years.

Stanley Hotel owner John Cullen, who has spent millions of dollars to get the wellness program off and running through a number of compromises and alternatives, admitted later that he was barely breathing as he awaited the mayor's vote.

While we admire Cullen's incredible steadfastness to make wellness happen, we have to recognize the courage it took for the mayor to vote his conscience and to do the right thing for the community.

It's a good guess that Mayor Pinkham's vote will likely go down as was one of the most important votes a mayor of this community has ever made.

It will certainly jump start wellness in Estes Park. If it leads to a world-class wellness center being built in the near future, and that leads to a year-round wellness economy, there won't be enough words to express what a key vote that was.

The mayor will take some heat for this vote. But, his legacy will be remembered and felt long after the fire cools.

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